Plant and Figure Sketches
Artist
Shibata Zeshin
(Japanese, 1807 - 1891)
Place of OriginJapan
PeriodEdo period (1615-1868) or Meiji period (1868-1912)
CultureJapanese
MaterialsInk and colors on paper
DimensionsH. 11 3/4 in x W. 241 in, H. 29.8 cm x W. 612.1 cm
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Willard G. Clark and an anonymous donor
Object numberB87D11
DepartmentJapanese Art
ClassificationsPainting
On View
Not on view柴田是真筆 人物花卉図巻
In this handscroll, the artist Shibata Zeshin sketched a variety
of people, plants, and animals in ink and pale mineral pigments
on paper. Through light, economical brushwork, each sketch
functions as a visual haiku—a minimal but evocative expression
of a moment in human life and the natural world. Zeshin, a
haiku poet, imbued many of his lacquers and paintings with the
simplicity, brevity, and attunement to nature that characterize
the haiku form.
The section of the scroll shown here depicts the following
subjects from right to left:
• Umbrella maker
• Dandelion
• Spring wildflowers and plants: violets, bracken fern fiddlehead
fronds, horsetails, shepherds purse, milk vetch, and
Japanese knotweed
• Frog by a stream
In this handscroll, the artist Shibata Zeshin sketched a variety
of people, plants, and animals in ink and pale mineral pigments
on paper. Through light, economical brushwork, each sketch
functions as a visual haiku—a minimal but evocative expression
of a moment in human life and the natural world. Zeshin, a
haiku poet, imbued many of his lacquers and paintings with the
simplicity, brevity, and attunement to nature that characterize
the haiku form.
The section of the scroll shown here depicts the following
subjects from right to left:
• Umbrella maker
• Dandelion
• Spring wildflowers and plants: violets, bracken fern fiddlehead
fronds, horsetails, shepherds purse, milk vetch, and
Japanese knotweed
• Frog by a stream
